RAMANATHAPURAM: Pressing the Indian embassy to secure the release of fishermen, who are stranded in Muscat, several fishermen staged protests at the collectorate during the grievance redressal meeting in Ramanathapuram on Monday. They also submitted a petition to the district collector.
AITUC fishing workers' association's State Secretary CR Senthilvel said that four fishermen from the district had travelled to Oman, in Muscat, through private agents in September last year. Even after working for six months, the fishermen were allegedly not paid and also tortured by the boat owners there.
Despite the struggles, the stranded fishermen managed to contact the Indian embassy there, and alleged that the boat owners had asked for money in return for their passports. Thus, the fishermen's association has requested the embassy to rescue the stranded fishermen and offer compensation of Rs 1 lakh to them. The affected fishermen's families also protested along with AITUC.
Apart from the protest, the district collector received 318 petitions over issues dealing with patta, pensions, and others. Multiple other protests were staged near the collectorate. While middle school teachers protested to increase their salaries in line with the GO, a group of supporters of Ramar Pandian, who was recently murdered, sought justice and action against the perpetrators. Revenue department officials staged a sit-in protest pressing the state government to address their demands.